Tooele County

Utah – Tooele County

RURAL LOCATIONS

The next five locations are in the order found along the Pony Express Trail in Tooele County. After leaving Fairfield (Camp Floyd) in Utah County, and ascending Five-mile Pass, these stations are in geographic sequence going west as follows:

Rush Valley Station (UPTLA #98)Sponsor – Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks AssociationLocation – Approximately 7 miles west of Five-Mile Pass on Faust Road

Although this is listed as the first Pony Express Station in Tooele County as the trail continues from Utah County over Five-Mile Pass, there is some doubt that it was a Pony Express Station. But it was a Stage Station on the Pony Express Trail.

Faust Station was operated by Henry J. Faust, a native of Germany. After joining the Mormon Church he accepted a position as a station manager and part-time rider with the Pony Express in 1860. He and his wife survived a narrow escape with Indians while living in Faust. In 1870 Henry moved to Salt Lake City in the livery stable business. President James E. Faust of the LDS Church First Presidency has family ties to this historic place.

Before beginning the long crossing of the Great Salt Lake Desert, Pony Express Riders first ascended Lookout Pass after leaving Faust in Rush Valley. This station existed one mile west of the summit. The next station was Simpson Springs, 16 miles to the southwest.

This station lies on the floor of the ancient Sevier River that drained from the area of Garfield County into Lake Bonneville. The river route was changed after a lava flow altered the river’’s course into the Delta and Sevier Lake area. Because of flash flooding in the area, little evidence of the station remains. According to Pony Express folklore, this site was difficult to man because of its reputation of being regularly visited by desert spirits.

Note: At this point the Pony Express Trail goes into Juab County for the next five stations (see Juab County listings). Then the trail returns to Tooele County for three more stations as follows:

Round Canyon Station was located 12 miles from Willow Springs Station. It was built in the east mouth of Overland Canyon to replace an earlier station further up the canyon that could not be defended against the Indians. The gun ports built in this station are still evident.

Burnt Pony Express Station (UPTLA #94)Sponsor – Utah Pioneer Trails and Landmarks Association, about 1940Location – Approximately six miles west of Round Canyon Station on the lower end of Clifton Flat.GPS – N 40° 04' 36.5", W 113° 50' 44.0"

This monument represents the approximate site of the Burnt Station also known as the original Canyon Station. It was built about 1860, and the actual site is unknown. Station keepers at this site were reportedly killed during an ambush by Indians while having breakfast. One mile beyond this site the road forks. Going right leads to Gold Hill; going left to Ibapah.

Deep Creek Station in Ibapah was the most westerly station in the present boundaries of Utah. The station was well equipped with supplies for Pony Express riders. It also became a stopping place for the Overland Stage. This site was home for Howard Egan, who was the division superintendent for Pony Express services between Salt Lake City and Eureka, Nevada.

This monument marks the site of the Grantsville Fort built in 1853 as protection against the Indians. The Fort was thirty rods square with walls twelve feet high, five feet thick at the base and eighteen inches thick at the top. The north wall was one hundred forty three feet north of the monument. About fifty people lived inside the Fort during the early settlement of the town of Grantsville, which was named in honor of George D. Grant, one of its pioneers.

In early Sept. 1854, U.S. Army Col. E.J. Steptoe and his troops built an encampment on the eastern shore of Rush Lake in Rush Valley. Col. Steptoe was sent to Utah by President Franklin Pierce to take over as governor from Brigham Young in response to the Gunnison Massacre. However, upon learning of Young’s popularity, he declined to take the position and requested that Young be retained as governor. Several hundred men, mules and horses briefly thrived at the location of teptoe’s camp, which is marked today by a roadside monument that includes a grave of an infant who had died at the encampment. The detachment left for Benicia, California in early April, 1855. Later, an Overland Stage station was located here from 1868 to the early 1870's. A smelter was erected here in 1871 and operated until bout 1880. The Union Pacific Railroad reached here in 1902.

TOOELE, UTAH

Near the top of Stockton Pass you can view South Mountain, the Stansbury Mountains, all of Tooele Army Depot, Grantsville, and Soldier’s Bridge. Directly below is the old ghost town of Bauer (private property), the Honorine Tunnel, and the “end of the line”for the old Utah/Nevada Western Railroad (1885–1905).

In the year 1854 or 1855, to provide protection from attacks by the Indians, the settlers of Tooele built a mud wall most of the way around the town. The attacks never came, due in part to the counsel given by Brigham Young to feed the Indians, rather than fight them. The reverse of the monument gives a detailed description of how it was built. The replica is one-half size of the original wall, which was built 2 ½ feet wide at the base, one foot wide at the top and nine feet high. It was built in 16 foot sections.

This monument at the mouth of Settlement Canyon commemorates the creation of a special memorial garden for early pioneer graves that had been periodically disturbed by construction projects, and then relocated further away from state Route 36.

Entrepreneur and businessman William Ajax created this unique two-story underground store in 1870. Patrons from nearby found a wide variety of merchandise, food, clothing, housewares, hardware, tools, and machines. The value of the merchandise was estimated in excess of $70,000 and operated until 1914.